Ora et Labora

I slept so hard. I don't think I moved all night. I woke up anticipating where I was, and what it looked like in the daylight.  Our Lady of the Rock is run by about eight Benedictine nuns. The mantra of the monastery is Ora et Labora: Pray and Work. They have about three hundred acres in the San Juan Islands where they keep three kinds of cattle, sheep, alpacas, llamas, chickens and two peahens. There are also two interns here. They live in the guest house where I am staying for the weekend. There are two other guests here as well; a couple who have been working around the farm.

7:30 am
Coffee (half milk), bread. There is a peahen on the porch. Mass is at 8:00am.
It is a beautiful sunny day. It feels normal here; no pressures to check e-mail and all that hustle and bustle of everyday life. Time is measured differently at a monastery.

I went to mass with Cate the other intern. She’s Catholic so she knew what to do as far as standing and sitting, crossing and kneeling, etc. I felt a bit nervous. The priest that is usually connected with the monastery is ill so there was a deacon doing the mass with the nuns. He was laid back and that made it feel more comfortable. I have a huge amount of sadness and, I’ll admit, some anger over the fact that I cannot take communion in Catholic church. It makes me feel excluded, which I think is the opposite of what Jesus was saying those centuries ago. The rebel that I am, I have taken communion in Catholic church before. I asked my friend that I was with if it was ok with her and went up and ate at the table. But it doesn’t feel right to do that either, it’s like undercover communion. Today, I debated whether or not to just stay in my seat or go up and get a blessing. I decided to go up and get a blessing and I’m glad I did. When the deacon put his hand on my head, my heart was really open to this blessing in Catholic church, for the first time unfettered from anger and sadness. It was touching and I got a little teary eyed.

After mass I helped Cate feed the Highland cows some hay. There was a baby one, about four weeks old Cate said, and he was pretending to eat the hay but he really couldn’t yet. So sweet. After that I took a nice walk and took some pictures. The nuns here are cloistered so they sleep and eat separately, but during work time guests interns and nuns mingle. I ended up helping Mother Mary Grace to prune and repot some plants and do some weeding. She used to be a receptionist at a CPA’s office and she had a spunky way about her. There are only eight nuns and they are all over fifty at least, when there is no one else to help them they just do everything themselves. They just get on with it. Of course they are grateful for the help they do receive.

12:30 pm Lunch
There were seven of us at lunch. Some people who came to visit Cate and the other two guests, Sam and me. So, we don’t eat with the nuns but every lunch and dinner, the nuns make the meals (not breakfast) and bring it to the guest house. This is part of their ministry of hospitality. If there are no guests, they just make food for Cate and Sam, or whoever the interns are. The nuns take turns making the meals. Today, we had salad, lasagna, and rolls. For dessert we had a dense cake with a lemon sauce. What a meal! I felt so lucky! Cate and Sam were telling stories about some of the funny casseroles that some of the nuns have made. Cooking is not a gift that everyone has! I was wondering where this food came from so I asked who does the shopping and Cate replied that the nuns take turns going to Costco. Screech of the wheels in my mind. What? Costco? I guess they had recently been drinking milk from the Jersey cows on their farm, but now they were pregnant and needed that nutrition for themselves. Also, they do have some of the animals that they raise slaughtered. They were going to be picking up some new meat from the butcher the next week. They also have a huge vegetable garden in the summer and fall but it had not been planted yet. So for the end of Winter, beginning of Spring, Costco it is.

After lunch I went on another walk and then I came back and helped with the plants some more. I have a way of easily romanticizing almost everything and everyone. I had these lofty ideas that the nuns would be – well, wise and all knowing I guess. I’m sure some of them are, but you know, I thought that everything that came out of their mouths would be profound. I knew they would have a sense of humor, they did all have glowing smiles. I realized after spending time with Mother Mary Grace that nuns are just normal people who worship a lot. Ok, there is much more to it than that. Monastic life is a profoundly spiritual way of life and the nuns are deeply devoted to God. The fact that these women choose this way of life is a demonstration of how life here on earth, in the bodies we are given, can be something more, something sacred. What a reminder that is to the rest of us!

Vespers was at five o’clock and I went. I was the only one there beside the nuns. They worship in a separate area of the chapel. Their singing was a rough blend of clear and warbly voices. They sing in Latin and I followed along with the English translation until they departed from it and then I just sat and listened to them sing scripture. It was quite meditative, and it didn’t really matter if I could understand it or not

6:30 pm Supper.

We were given chili and cornbread muffins, and cake for dessert because it was Joe’s birthday. He is one of the guests. He and his wife knew Mother Mary Grace before she became a nun. Joe plowed the field for the vegetable garden today. She came down and had cake with us. I asked if the nuns eat the same thing as we were and she said that a lot of the nuns have dietary restrictions because of health reasons, and so what they eat is dictated a lot by that. Now I get to relax, read and journal before I go to bed!

Here are some books that I found in the book shelf at the guest house that might be pertinent to this project:

 Monk Habits of Everyday People Dennis Okholm, 2007.

The View from a Monastery Benet Tvedten, OSB, 2006.